Winchester 231

[b-town]

I am fairly new to reloading and have a question about the winchester 231 powder I am using. I use it to reload both my 45 acp and 9mm ammo. I have tried to light and heavy loads but it always seems like there is some left over in the barrel and chamber of my guns. I have used both remington and wolf primers and it is always the same. Is this typical for this powder or am I doing something wrong? Is there a better powder to use or comparable powder?

 

[sloughfoot]

I have used 231 for lots of years in 45acp and 9mm as well as several other cartridges. It is an excellent and widely used powder. I have never seen left over powder anywhere in the barrel after shooting. It is a fast pistol powder.

If you are getting incomplete ignition I sure don't know why..

 

[wolfman]

I am loading 5gr of W231 under both a 200gr LSWC and a 230gr LRN for my 2 .45's, and under a 165gr LSWC for my wife's .40, and have never noticed unburned powder with any of them.

The only thing I can think of, would be not quite enough crimp, and the projectile is leaving the case too soon to get complete powder ignition.

 

[parson]

I've used 231 for several years for light loads in several different calibers. In my experience it has been a clean burning powder. I've used it with different brands of primers without noticeable difference.

I don't know what might cause your particular problem with it.

 

[b-town]

I will try to use a heavier crimp and see if that helps. Like I said i am new to reloading, so at what point is the crimp to heavy?

 

[workinman]

+1 wolfman

 

[XtremeVel]

I will try to use a heavier crimp and see if that helps. Like I said i am new to reloading, so at what point is the crimp to heavy?

Being your loading 9mm and .45, you will be using a taper crimp die. In .45's, I usually crimp very lightly... Just enough to turn the bell back in and give a decent hold onto the bullet. Now in 9mm, as in other high pressure rounds, I find myself crimping a bit more to prevent any possibility of " bullet set-back " ).

I judge how much to crimp by running one thru where I think it's a decent amount of crimp then I push the loaded round into the edge of my reloading bench then caliper to see if I moved the bullet inward. I apply little more crimp until I can no longer push the bullet in. The amount of pressure I push with depends on what load I'm using. Something that is worked up and running with some pressures, I tend to push a little harder when I check. I really pay attention when I load something like .357 sig with the short neck to locate / hold the bullet.

 

[slow1911s]

Crimp should = bullet diameter + (case wall thickness at the mouth x 2). For 40 S&W, my crimp is .421". Anything less than that and the cartridge won't headspace properly (autos like 9x19, 40 S&W, and 45 ACP headspace on the casemouth).

Some of the faster powders won't burn completely if you're running on the low end with light bullets (respective to the weight range in the caliber). For example, I used to load a 135 JHP in my 5" 40 S&W with Titegroup at about 1025 fps. I had all kinds of incomplete combustion with that combo and VERY erratic chrono results. That powder likes/needs pressure to do a complete burn. I switched that out for Clays and the results were much, much better - more consistency, lower SDs, better accuracy.